SWAY (Part 1) (16 page)

“This is too much,” I whispered.

I couldn’t believe the size of the stones and the way they were cut. I’d never seen a stone cut like that, but I wasn’t exactly a diamond expert, either. I brushed the tips of my fingers lightly over them.

“They’ll be beautiful on you,” he whispered. I stammered, unable to form a complete word. “Just put them on, Annie.” I looked at him, still not believing this gift. “I threw away the r
eceipt. They won’t take them back. They’ll just go to waste if you don’t wear them,” he threatened.

“You’re lying,” I scolded. “But I kind of don’t care,” I whined. “They’re so beautiful.”

“I noticed earrings are the only jewelry you ever wear. When I saw these I thought of you.”

“Thank you.” I kissed him. “I love them.”

I went to the bathroom and replaced my tiny studs with the large, square stones. Ryan wrapped his arms around my waist and gazed at our reflection in the mirror. “I told you they’d be beautiful on you,” he bragged. I twisted around and kissed him again.

“Now for the other matter,” he whispered, anxiously intertwi
ning his fingers with mine. “I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to go about this so…” he took a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it for me. My smile grew wider as my eyes glided over the page.

Dear Annie,

I think you’re really neat and nice and fun and funny and soooo pretty. Your hair smells like flowers and I really love it when you smile. I love kissing you and holding hands with you. I love being with you…a lot, so much that I only want to be with you. Will you be my girlfriend?

Yes___ No___ Maybe___ Never___

Please say yes,

Ryan

I smiled, almost laughing, adoring the way he’d asked me. It was perfect. “Yes,” I answered, gazing into his eager eyes. “I would
really
love to be your girlfriend,” I confirmed blissfully. “Thank you for this.” I motioned toward the note. 

“You’re welcome,” he smiled, and gently kissed me again. Then he chuckled. “So what do we do now? Go get matching t-shirts or som
ething?”

My eyes widened. “No, we don’t.” I shook my head a
ffirming my answer. “Darn it.” He snapped his fingers and scrunched up his face with fake disappointment. “I was really hoping to have our initials airbrushed on a grossly overpriced, low quality t-shirt to show the world that you’re officially mine.”

“Sorry.”

“How about I take you to dinner instead?”

“Dinner sounds good.” I smiled at him. He looked so mischi
evous, like the boy inside of him who’d written me the note.

“C’mon, girlfriend, let’s go,” he said, grabbing my hand.

I laughed. “Are you going to be like this all night?”

“Probably,” he grinned, a wily look in his eye. I laughed again, absolutely hoping so.

22

When I drove up, Ryan was standing outside with John and V
alerie. He couldn’t pick me up because we’d cut ourselves short on time earlier. We’d gone to a baseball game at Harmon and he had to pick up his suit after he dropped me at home.

I smiled when I saw him. I couldn’t believe how good he looked, or that he was mine.
My boyfriend. Officially.

As soon as I stepped out of my car, Valerie yanked my a
ttention away from Ryan by making a snide comment about my shoes being from last season and asking if my car was going to leak something on her driveway. And then the usual happened, Ryan scolded her, I bit my tongue, John smiled at me, said something nice, and began nudging Valerie away from us.

As they turned to leave, Valerie hesitated a moment, gla
ring at me before walking away with John. I knew she’d glimpsed my exposed earring, which made having to tolerate her nasty comments worth it. I had put one side of my hair up with a barrette for the sole purpose of allowing that bitch to get an eyeful of my gift from her son. I knew it would infuriate her that he’d given me something so expensive. I also knew it would put the ball back in her court, but it was her turn to be nauseated for a while.

Ryan and I drove to the signing ceremony in his new nin
ety-thousand dollar Mercedes that his parents had given him as a gift for his achievement—receiving a full athletic scholarship to Harmon University, his school of choice.

Ryan was dragged away by Harmon’s athletic director the m
inute we arrived, which left me awkwardly standing by myself, until I spotted Pam and Larry. She kissed my cheek and I complimented them on how nice they looked. Pam had fantastic taste and Larry had the good sense to wear what she’d chosen for him.

Because Ryan had to wear a suit, I dressed up too. I wore a si
mple dress. Black, knee length, sleeveless, with a scoop neck and a sapphire blue sash around the waist tied in a bow. Pam called it a “must have.” She was right about that, and the shoes, which she let me borrow. I knew if I relayed Valerie’s comment about them that Pam would have gotten a kick out of it, but decided to keep it to myself.

I hugged Justin when he appeared and congratulated him on his choice of school. More than anything, I was really just
happy to have a moment alone with him before Eve sniffed us out.  He’d passed up Harmon to go to Martin, which was four hours away. It was also where Eve was going. It confirmed that their relationship was getting serious, which made me a little sad.

“I told you, you could take her,” Justin laughed. I rolled my eyes. He was talking about my fight with Kristy Prince.

“What the hell did she do to you?”

“You know Kristy. She was just running her lip gloss caked mouth.”

“So, I guess I should be careful what I say to you from now on, huh?”

“Only if you want to keep all your hair,” I threatened.

Justin laughed. “Where’d you get the boulders? He moved the side of my hair that wasn’t up to see them both. “Superman give them to you?”

I smirked.
“Very funny.” He already knew Ryan had given them to me. He just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to joke about the super couple article.

“Do they have some sort of secret protective abilities to keep you safe from mind control or radiation or something?”

“Something like that,” I said playfully.

“What are you doing after this?” he asked, still slightly laughing at his own jokes.

“We’re going to Cade’s party.”

“Really?” he frowned, looking concerned.

“What,” I gasped.

“I just thought you’d be busy wielding your powers for good—fighting a band of evil doers who’ve assembled in our great city with the sole intention of wreaking havoc amongst us,” he stated, his tone dr
amatic, his face serious.

“Hilarious,” I whined.
But it was sort of funny.

“I haven’t seen Mullins yet. Is he wearing a cape or does he not want the media to get wind of his secret identity?” He laughed again, completely entertaining himself.

“I’m
so
done with you,” It was meant to sound threatening, but I started laughing. The lights flashed. They were ready to start. “I’ll see you at the party?” I asked.

“No,” he whined. “I can’t.
We
have plans with our parents. They’re meeting tonight over dinner.”

“Sounds serious,” I offered.

“I guess. It wasn’t my idea.” He looked like he was dreading it, which made me want to laugh.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, you look like it,” he groaned.

“Good luck with that,” I told him as I saw Eve approac
hing. “I need to find a seat.” I didn’t want to talk to her and sensed that she felt the same way about me.

I walked a few rows down and John was waving to me. He’d saved me a seat next to him. I couldn’t see her, but I knew Valerie hated me with a bright red passion and wasn’t thrilled I was here in the first place, but having to sit that close to me had to be killing her. I didn’t like it much either, but I did my best to only
concentrate on what was happening in front of me.

The signing ceremony was mostly just a publicity event, a chance for the media to get photos and interviews from the pla
yers and colleges who were signing them. There were so many athletes that the signings were done on a continual rotation. They seated five athletes at the table at a time. The player was introduced, and then he stated the name of the school he had chosen.

The interviews took place in an adjoining room. They had what looked like a handful of stations set up, and the players r
otated until they had made the circle.

Justin was in the third group. Pam was so proud of him. She was trying not to cry, but Larry had a handkerchief in hand, just in case. Eve looked as if she could power the sun if it failed to shine as she applauded for him. I was rolling my eyes, until I rea
lized that I might feel the same way when it was Ryan’s turn.

And
I did.

Ryan was in the fifth group and it took about an hour for him to make the loop. I stayed very far away from Valerie once Ryan left the room, mostly waiting in the hall. I didn’t want to take a chance that I might get stuck having to speak to her again.

Ryan was so happy when he came out. He shoved the auditorium doors open and sighed, with relief. He hugged me, sweeping me off the floor, spinning me around.

“Congratulations.” I smiled.

“Thank you.” He looked at me for a split second before kissing me. “Let’s go celebrate.” He took my hand and we hurried to the car.

We drove downtown to The Metro Hotel with the top down. The party was in the penthouse suite that Cade Mitchell’s parents had r
eserved for him. He’d gotten a full scholarship to play football at Notre Dame. The hotel rules were being bent a little, but no one expected anything to come of it because his father is a Senator.

The penthouse felt a little familiar to me. It reminded me of b
eing at Ryan’s. It was like one big open living room. The place was packed and the air was thick with pride and accomplishment—pure joy. I didn’t think anything could have killed the mood in there. Everyone smiling and laughing, in the highest spirits. I imagined the dancing, drinking, high fiving and hugging would go on all night.

Ryan and I talked and mingled, well he mostly talked. I just stood next to him, looking uncomfortable until Lindsay and Shawn showed up. She quickly looked me over before grabbing my arm and yanking me to the bar.

“You need to get one of these in you,” she said, offering me a shot of something. “Drink this—
fast
.” I did it, and she handed me another and then she was somehow able to talk me into dancing on the coffee table with her. For a second I wondered if she’d drugged me because that was so out of character for me, but I knew better.

Later on Ryan found me, pulled me to his side, and quietly
asked if I was ready to go. “I don’t want to go home,” I whined. I felt too good. I didn’t want the night to end.

He laughed at the pout forming on my mouth. “Come on party monster.” He draped his arm around my neck and led us out into the hallway. I waved to Lindsay, who had her bottom lip stuck out, sad that I was leaving.

“Table dancing, huh?” Ryan said, with a crooked smile once we were on the elevator.

I grimaced. “Sorry. I hope I didn’t embarrass you.” I looked down at my shoes, which unfortunately made me think of his mother. “No way, I liked seeing that side of you.” The look he gave me made me woozy.

We’d only gone down one floor when the elevator stopped. He put his arm across the opening to keep the doors from closing and nodded toward the hallway. I knew what was happening and was instantly nervous. My insides were fluttering so wildly that I feared I might get sick. Then Ryan took my hand, easing me just as quickly. We were both quiet until we reached the end of the hallway.

“When I knew we were going to be here tonight I reserved a room for us. If you’re not comfortable...”

“Which one is it?”

“The one behind you.
It has a balcony overlooking the city.”

“Let's see it, then,” I
requested, my voice low. He removed the key card from his pocket and unlocked the door. He swung it open, motioning for me to enter first.

The room was gorgeous. It was lit by candles and the moon, which was shining in from the open balc
ony doors. The creamy fabric hanging from them mingled with the breeze, floating delicately into the room. We were so high up that the only thing I could see was the stars in the clear night sky.

The carpet was cream colored, the linens feathery white and there were more pillows on the mahogany bed than I could have coun
ted. Cream-colored fabric draped freely, hanging from the canopy, billowing around the bed. There were two bouquets of red roses sitting on the nightstands. A bottle of champagne was chilling on the matching mahogany console table, sitting alongside two crystal flutes and a box of dark chocolates.

“How did you do all of this?” I gasped. I shouldn’t have been this surprised. I knew how he’d done it—the concierge.

He smiled at me, pleased that I seemed happy, and moved closer to me. “If someone calls me John while we’re here, just go with it. It’s the only way I could have the champagne delivered to the room.” I laughed.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful—perfect.”

“
It’s how it was meant to be,” he whispered. His eyes scanned my face, until finally resting on my eyes.

“I love you, Annie.” A euphoric smile quickly spread across my face. I was glowing, happy to hear him finally say those words to me. I put my hand against his cheek and melted into his
green eyes, his perfect mouth formed a sweet smile in response. 

“I assumed that you were ready for this because of what ha
ppened last week.”

His uncertainty made me want to laugh. “I am.”
And I was. All of me was ready to be with him.

I moved to put my arms around him, but he stopped me. “Um…do you want anything first? Do you need anything?” He nervou
sly stumbled over the words. I looked at the champagne. “I’ll pour us a glass,” he offered.

I think we both finished in two swallows, trying to drown the nerves. He sat our glasses down and took my hand, moving nearer to kiss me. I felt the nervous fluttering in my stomach again as thoughts of my inexperience flooded my brain. “I don’t want to disappoint you,” I admitted quietly.

“Annie,” Ryan’s voice trembled. “I know how important this is to you and you’re trusting me with it. You’ll only have one first time and I want it to be everything you were waiting for and honestly,” he paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m worried about disappointing you.”

I hadn’t considered how he might feel, but was still su
rprised by his worry. “You couldn’t.
You
are what I was waiting for.” I held out my arms as I looked at him. “All of this is beautiful, but it wouldn’t mean anything without you. I feel so much for you that I don’t know how to put it into words. It doesn’t seem like saying that I love you would be enough.” I was a little embarrassed by my revelation, but it was the truth.

He looked away from my eyes, still sounding worried. “I’ve never done this when it meant something before and that’s pretty scary, too. I’ve never loved a girl like this—the way I love you.” He stroked my cheek. “I’ve never loved another girl. I feel complete when we’re together and I miss you like mad when we’re not. You’re always with me, Annie, and I know how lucky I am to have you in my life.”

“I feel the same way about you.” His hands glided into my hair and held there as he kissed me. He paused to look at me again and I was overwhelmed by what we felt for each other—exactly how he’d described what being in love was supposed to feel like.

Ryan was careful with me, sweet and patient. It was a little u
ncomfortable at first and I realized how naïve I was to the point of embarrassment. But then it seemed everything disappeared except for the two of us; the awkwardness and jitters melted away.